Oberstar says 2009 Transportation Bill must look to Europe

“We cannot continue on the path of the past,” said Congressman Jim Oberstar (D-Minn) said June 17 in La Grange, Ill., during a discussion with local lawmakers.

The discussion, which focused on transportation needs for the Chicago region, the 2009 Transportation Bill and its impact on the Chicago area, incorporated the large amount of area transit users. In Chicago, there are 800 million transit trips a year, Oberstar said. That number is growing at a rate of 9-10% a year. The high increase in transit trips will be a focal point of the bill, he said.

Ranking Democrat on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Oberstar stressed throughout the discussion that America’s transportation model needs to mimic that of Europe’s.

Europe’s transit serves people in a compact area, which is what the bill will focus on—getting groups of people to their destination from the earliest hours possible, Oberstar said.

He mentioned the recent House approval of legislation that would authorize $14.4 billion for Amtrak over the next five years—the first Amtrak bill in 15 years, and announced that the House is “poised to move Amtrak into a new era.”

“It’s already being done in Europe,” Oberstar said. “We need to do it in America.”

Oberstar, who said back in April that the highway and transit reauthorization measure could total as much as $450 billion, was joined by Congressman Dan Lipinski to discuss plans for the bill.